


Light are Rare in the Sewers

by ProngsApolloson



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, My First Fanfic, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 07:47:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15529521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProngsApolloson/pseuds/ProngsApolloson
Summary: Leonardo has gone missing, Master Splinter is left in a coma, and Donatello has been elected as the turtles substitute leader until they can find where Leo has gotten to. The turtles hope they can find answers when they discover that there is a whole other world of magic just below their noses.





	Light are Rare in the Sewers

**Author's Note:**

> I know there isn't a lot of TMNT fan fiction but I thought that means there is a big audience. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it!

“Well that didn’t go over so well,” Donatello muttered as Michelangelo hit the mat again, hard.

“Woah bro! Chill out,” he groaned without moving

Mikey and Raph had been at each other's throats for nearly a week now and Donnie had tried to talk to them, separately and together but it was all in vain. Their arguments only got worse through talking and Donnie was getting sick of it, so he arranged this training for them especially.

Raphael stood above Mikey who didn’t seem to be making any effort to get up. He stepped on the tails of his brothers mask and crouched down to get in his face.

“You had enough yet Mikey?” His smile was cruel but no more than was typical for his fiery temper. Mikey’s only reply was heavy breathing. “Nothing? Bro did I knock your brain loose or something!? You’ve gotta have some kinda come back, or did I dent your ‘silver tongue’,” he made air quotes to provoke Mikey back into the fight. Nothing.

Donnie took a few steps forward asking, “You alright there Mikey?” Raph stood, looked at Donnie and shrugged. Mikey then took advantage of the confusion. Spinning on his shell he took Raph’s legs out from under his body and there was a second thud. Raph had fallen face first on the mat. Wasting no time, Mikey grabbed Raph’s wrist and had his arm twisted painfully behind his back.

Mikey’s usual grin spread across his face, “You know my favorite thing about talking all the time isn’t what you’d think,” Raph growled at the mocking tone as Mikey continued, “It’s not the friends you talk to, the girls you meet, or even the attention you get..."

Raph laughed, “What do you know about girls?” Mikey twisted his arm and Raph grunted in pain.

“My favorite part is if you stop talking people get concerned and then you can knock them over easier,” with that Mikey twisted one last time then hopped up and strolled off the fighting mat in the direction of the fridge, leaving Donnie and Raph in stunned silence.

Eventually Raph got up and folded his legs beneath him, breathing heavily. Donnie watched his brother’s breathing exercises closely. Raph had always been quick to anger and as they’d gotten older his fuse just seemed to get shorter and shorter. But now breathing exercises? This wasn’t something that Donatello would have expected of the turtle in red. This was more something that Leo would… oh.

Donnie knelt down in front of his brother and waited for him to finish. Raph spoke without opening his eyes, “If you’re gonna talk about the fight, don’t, unless you want me to plug your nose up for good.”

“Raph is everything okay?” Donnie was pulling on the frayed string, even though he felt he knew where the loose end would lead.

“It’s fine Don, just let me be.” Eyes still closed.  
There was a long pause where Donnie couldn’t think of what to say or ask next and Raph just knelt in silence. They could hear Mikey humming to himself from the kitchen making up some new tune about pizza and fighting the bad guys. Donnie’s mind scrambled, he didn’t know what to say or do to bring his brothers back together again but he had to try to figure something out.

What would Leo do?

Donnie thought over the possibilities, calculating almost like the equipment the team relies on him to know so well.

Leo had been missing for a month now. He left without a warning and there wasn’t any reason for the other turtles to think he’d be gone for long. Each of them had gone off on their own every once in a while, Raph on several occasions, but everyone came back before the week was out usually. This time he hadn’t… yet. The first week after him being gone was mayhem. Attacks and robberies broke out all over the city. Even with Casey Jones’s help the turtles struggled to fend off the foot clan and failed to catch some tech snatching purple dragon thugs.

Master Splinter took Leo’s disappearance on himself and went out in search of his lost son -only to be found himself- beaten, broken, and bloody on April O’neals doorstep. Splinters injuries caused him to fall into a coma. With April’s help Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were able to buy the right medical equipment to keep Master Splinter in a stable condition, but they all feared that it wouldn’t be enough and he could slip away at any moment. At the moment though he seemed to be improving.

After that fiasco of a week they came together and tried their best to put all the pieces back together. Casey volunteered to fill the empty spot in the group but said he was too busy to take over being the leader like Leo was. Donnie expected Raph to jump at the chance to be the leader but surprisingly when Mikey suggested Donnie take the lead he was completely supportive. There were so many things that Donnie never expected to happen and now Raph was doing breathing exercises. This just might make the top of the list.

“Have you found anything out about where Leo might be?” Donnie asked carefully.

Raph’s shoulders slumped down and he let out a heavy breath, “I’ve looked everywhere Donnie. There isn’t a warehouse in this city that I haven’t flipped upside-down lookin’ for him.” His words tumbled out like they’d been waiting to spill for a long time. At least he wasn’t trying to hide his late night absences.

“We’ve been looking for weeks now Raph, we’re all still looking for him. There’s no point in pushing yourself past your limits and staying up all night.” Donnie wasn’t sure how Raph would take how much he’d started sounding like Leo.

“Well Don, if you wanted to make sure I wasn’t overextending myself you’d be putting just as much effort into finding him,” He stood and Donatello could tell he was getting angry again, “And maybe you would drag Mikey off the couch sometimes too!”

Donnie watched as he vaulted up a level to where his room was and vanished behind the sliding paper door.

So much for breathing exercises.

Donnie stood and walked out of the central room and out into the dimly lit sewers. Closing the secret hatch he braced his forearms against the cement blocks resting his forehead on the hard surface, “I just need some fresh air,” his voice echoing through the tunnel.  
The city noise seemed to be especially loud today. Donnie gently lowered the manhole cover into its place, breathing in the somewhat stuffy, somewhat polluted New York air. Planting the end of his staff on the ground and resting his chin on the other end he took a moment to take the world around him in. He loved the upper world, even if he had only seen this small portion of the city there was so much life and possibilities to seek out. His thoughts were bitter sweet and really grounded him to his current situation. Being mutated turtles really limited what he and his brothers could do for fun. All they had ever known was the sewers, then the city from the rooftops. But Donnie never complained, they always made the most of what they had.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts he climbed the nearest fire escape and took off across the city, not quite sure what for or where to start.

The rooftop air was cool and crisp. His footsteps pounded across the concrete jungles canopy. Using his bo staff he vaulted the larger gaps he couldn't clear on his own strength. One such vault he seemed to miss some clothes lines as his mind raced at a faster pace than his feet. The line struck across his thigh, sending him spinning and sliding across the gravel of the roof.

“What the shell?” Donnie propped up on one knee and rubbed his head. He scanned the rooftop to see if there were any hidden observers, he was in luck tonight.

Donnie didn't move from his position but as his heart rate slowed he felt the brisk night air. Luckily when the turtles were mutated the became mostly warm-blooded with only a few exothermic tendencies. They never really had to bask but they did need to have a very warm place to sleep and get rest. If they had been left as cold-blooded as other reptiles Donnie would never be able to make it back to the lair on such a cold night.

He stood, brushing himself off. There was something in the air here. It felt just short of familiar but Donnie couldn't quite place it. It's hard to find something when you have no idea that you're looking for it but then sometimes it falls right in your lap, or trip through its clotheslines. It appeared to be a building not unlike any other building he'd run across, or jumped over, or even fought with the turtles various foes. Gravel, with a few vents, and even a garden box.

Glad to see someone in the city putting effort to grow something instead of building up. He walked over and looked down at the box. Inside was some classic gardening soil and a small ring of mushrooms. Donnie tilted his head, curious at the choice. Scientifically they didn't make sense. Fungi didn't naturally grow like this without having some kind of previous nutrient source, a tree or animal carcass or something.

Donnie also wasn't oblivious to the lore behind such an occurrence. Fairy rings, the playground of little winged people and leprechauns. They would play and dance and make music on nights with a full moon and the next morning the mushrooms would grow. Lore also said they doubled as a cunning trap laid by the magical creatures, or faepeople, to ensnare human victims, who ended up dancing to death or trapped in the fairy realm forever.

He crouched and looked the mushrooms over. They appeared to be common mushrooms, not poisonous and likely to be edible. He avoided placing any part of his body within the circle to avoid being ensnared. Fairy tale or not, he'd seen enough weird stuff to be cautious of the things that seemed mostly harmless. He plucked a large mushroom from the circle, cringing slightly as it came free wishing silently that he wouldn't be sucked into the circle by some supernatural force. Nothing. Not even the chime of a tinker bell.

He stood, loosed a breath that he didn't know he was holding and laughed to himself, “Geez Donnie, if fairies were real don't you think you would have found them by now?” He tossed the mushroom in the pouch tied to his belt and climbed down the fire escape, opting for the comfortable, predictable transportation through the sewer tunnels. Reaching the street level he took note of the street names, this is definitely a place to come back to.

At the lair the ever present smell of pizza reminded Donnie how hungry he was and he jogged into the kitchen.

Mikey, who spent most of his time with his nose in the fridge or his shell on the couch wasn't to be seen but the freshly delivered pizza sat haphazardly stacked on the table.

“Mikey,” Donnie called, puzzled, “Did Raph finally kill you while I was gone?” I heard clutter tumbling on the level above where Mikey’s room was and saw his head poke down from the top level walkway.

“Donnie! Raph and me have been looking all over for you!” His head disappeared and he shortly jumped the railing landing in a crouch, “I got tired of searching the city and I thought maybe…” his voice trailed off as he looked at the pizza. Donnie then noticed an oscillating fan sitting behind the boxes blowing the scent of the pizza toward the door.

“Dude!” He shouted indignantly and louder than he expected, “What did you think? Am I just some kind of wild animal?”

Mikey looked puzzled for the briefest of seconds replaced by a sardonic grin, “well we are turtles aren't we?”

Donnie laughed, a low kind of chuckle vibrating deep in his shell, “nice try Mikey but some of us have mutated out of the pizza scent trail trick.”

Mikey shook his head feigning dejection, “you're right maybe the computer would work better than the pizza.”

There was silence as Donnie turned slowly from grabbing a plate out of the cabinet to face Mikey. The orange mask on his face was wrinkled where his smile puckered his skin. At seeing his grinning expression Donnie wanted to throw the plate across the room at him because of his stupid humor or burst out laughing.  
“Do you want the pizza, or no, Don?” Mikey gestured to the cardboard boxes on the table in front of him and Donnie couldn't hold back the laughter anymore. His laugh echoed through the lair and was quickly followed by Mikey’s. They laughed for a long time and Donnie just enjoyed it and let the tears of hysteria set in his eyes.

This is how they had always been. Donnie would set the appearance of being quiet and technology minded but he loved Mikey’s jokes and would always encourage him, much to the rest of the family’s dismay. The two younger turtles always felt closer to each other because of it.

They had both found chairs to sit in as they laughed nearly uncontrollably. Donnie wiped the tears from his eyes as they wound down. Getting taken again by the fits of laughter once he looked at Mikey again. Finally regaining his cool, he took a shaky breath and took a bite of pizza, the spasmodic episode only causing his appetite to get worse.

“So Donnie, where have ya been,” Mikey asked, almost as an afterthought.

“I just needed to take a run, I guess,” Donnie spoke around the bites of pizza in his mouth, “just thought I'd get some patrol in while the night is still young.”

“Did you find anything,” he questioned eagerly. Donnie replied with a shrug and stuffed his mouth with pizza again. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about telling Mikey about the rooftop mushroom caper just yet. Donnie wished he could just dismiss it but it just intrigued him to know what made these mushrooms grow.

“Well, Raph is still out there looking but he says he might have finally found a lead on Leo.”

Donnie looked up at Mikey, surprised that something that Raph found came up the exact same night as Donnie's odd experience. He wondered if they were somehow related.

Mikey continued, “he and Casey are already following up on it and they told me to find you and join up with them when I did.”

Donatello stood, holding his half eaten slice of pizza, “well let's get going then, they probably need our help.”

“Cowabunga dude,” Mikey grinned.

As he ran across the rooftops a second time that night, Donnie felt different, like he was being watched. Several time he'd stop and turn to check if they were being followed but no one ever appeared. This made sense, Donnie knew it was difficult to keep up with ninjas, he'd seen Casey and April both try and fail. Despite never finding any sign of being followed the feeling remained in the back of Donnie's mind.

They dropped down in the alleyway where Raph had told Mikey to meet. Casey Jones was a towering six foot two, his face covered by an intimidating hockey mask was actually quite gentle looking with obvious smile lines. His long black hair fell to his shoulders and bright blue eyes smiled at the new arrivals through rectangular eye slits. The golf bag slung over his shoulder was packed full of modified sports equipment. Modified for beating up street thugs that is.

“Here comes the cavalry,” he shouted as the dropped from the fire escape. He slapped hands with Michelangelo and held out his fist for Donatello to bump with his own. Casey had a fun loving personality which reminded Donnie of Mikey and a fighting style that reminded him of Raphael. He seemed pretty well balanced with himself and in that moment Donatello thought he might be able to help the squabbling siblings. That would have to wait though.

“What's up Raph,” Donnie called to the turtle shaped shadow at the end of the alley.

The shape stepped out from the silhouette cast by the bright street lights, “It’s the Foot. I overheard two cronies talking over an exchange at some hole in the wall bar.”

“They talked about shipping containers full of gold in exchange for ‘the freak.’ I don't know about you but there doesn't seem to be too many 'freaks' in our fair city of New York, it's gotta be Leo.”

Donatello thought this over, “what makes you think the Foot is involved?”

“See for yourself,” the red clad turtle motioned for Donatello to take his place where the alley met the street. Across the road were a pair of warehouses. What drew Donatellos attention was the symbol emblazoned on the large doors on the left warehouse. Shredders personal insignia marked it as a definite Foot clan out post.

Donnie turned and asked, “Why here?”

“It makes sense,” Casey answered, “this location is controlled by the Clan. They want to have control of this deal so they don't get double crossed.”

“So Shredder is the buyer then? If Leo is in there we can't let this deal go down,” Donnie started to build a plan in his head.

“No dip genius,” Raph said impatiently, “lets get in there and kick some shell-”

“Hang on,” Mikey chimed in, “if we're getting in we gotta go now, look.” He pointed his finger toward the massive warehouse doors that had just begun to open.

“Alright,” Donatello spoke decisively, “lets get in there and see what we can do.”

They waited for ninjas to come out or for someone to go in. Raphael anxious to run strait in but Donnie had them wait for the small group that had just showed up to trail in through the doors before running across the shadowy street. As they filed in, Donnie looked up and down the street to see if they'd been spotted and felt that watching presence again. Not sure where it came from, he ducked into the shadowy warehouse.

They stuck to the shadows which hugged the walls. Three large lights illuminated the center of the room where two groups met. The turtles and Casey climbed the supports to the catwalk. They silently ran along the metal grate to the middle of the room where the meeting was happening. There didn't seem to be any package and there was no sign of Leonardo. What were they exchanging here? Locations, information, was this meeting just a formality? Raph signaled for silence as they all listened to the conversation down below.

The leader of the mystery group spoke loudly from under his hood, his voice rich and deep, “I trust on your masters honor that this payment will not be compromised. To trade one from our society to the mundane world is treason punishable by death.

One of our own? Donnie was beginning to think this wasn't about Leo. But what would the Clan trade a whole shipping crate full of gold for?

The foot ninja closest to the hooded figure spoke softly and Donnie couldn't understand his words. Michelangelo gasped. His hearing by far surpassed any of the other turtles. Luckily the ninja down below didn't seem to notice.

“Well,” the stranger said his voice betraying his glee, “here is your prize, he lifted his arms outside of his cloak to reveal a glowing cube.

“We gotta stop him,” Casey muttered, voice low. We all nodded in agreement and split to seperate corners of the building.

The hooded man continued talking while we moved, “these carry enough energy to put nuclear power to shame and they're practically renewable. If we can set up a regular exchange we would be very wealthy very soon.”

Each of us now in or positions Michelangelo ran into the light, grabbed the cube, and started his tirade of taunts, “I'd be careful dealing with the Foot Clan bro, you could end up with your shell in really banged up shape.”

Mikey ran past Casey, closely followed by a Foot ninja. Casey let Mikey by and brought his hockey stick up catching the pursuing ninja in the stomach.

“Oh sorry, but I can't let you get your mittens on this one pajama man.”

Donatello charged the hooded man he brought his staff up to strike right under the mystery man's chin. Quick as Donnie could blink, the man grabbed the staff and stopped Donnie dead in his tracks. His fingers were thick and donnie could tell from the looks of his forearm he was muscular.

“You have no idea what you're playing with here,” turning his face towards Donatello, who saw his eyes flash bright green and his staff sprouted green tendrils from the end closest to the man's hand. Donnie pulled against the wood staff it slid out of the man's grasp.

Just then Casey plowed into him knocking him flat out, “Alright Donnie, we can't win this one we gotta get away. Mikey and Raph are already out, let's move.”

“Right, lets go,” together they sprinted out of the warehouse, “What if they follow us?”

“What do you mean” Casey asked rounding the corner into the alley way, “ we took care of all those other guys while you and greenie were frozen.”

“That doesn't make sense, I only stood there for a few seconds,” Donnie knew Casey wouldn't try and pull a prank like that but come on this had to be fake.

“No Donnie, Casey's right,” Raph spoke solemnly, “That guy is bad business.”

“Guys come over here,” Mikeys voice seemed concerned, “there's sonething in here and I can’t open the box.”

“Well just give it a good ol’ wack. That should crack that baby right open,” Casey suggested.

“We don't know what it is, we can't risk damaging whatever is inside.” Donnie corrected.

“Yeah,” Mikey added, “plus I think there's something alive in it. I don't know how it's breathing though.”

“Give it, to me I'll use my sai to pry it open.” Raphael took the box out of Mikey's hands and wrenched the top of the box out of place. After the initial pry it seemed to swing freely on a hinge no one could see. They all peered into the box and a glowing ball of light shot up out at them. Hitting Casey right in the face, knocking him backwards and onto the concrete.

“Hey wait,” Mikey shouted, “We don't want to hurt you dude! Just let us help you!”

“What can you do to help me,” a voice called from the light, “you're the ones they were selling me to aren't you!”

“Now wait a second,we just saved you from that deal!” Raphael roared at the light.

“You did,” the voice asked. No one answered, and the light settled on a cardboard box.

Everyone settled a little, except Raph, who kept his sai out and ready. Casey sat up and slid his mask off of his face rubbing his forehead. He groaned a little but said nothing.

The voice spoke again from the light which began to dim slowly, “I'm sorry but my first reaction is to fight. Growing up in New York City is tough, especialy for a fairy. That's all I have ever known.” The light dimmed completely, Donatellos heart raced, Michelangelos jaw dropped, and Raphael folded his arms weapons always at the ready.

“What the…” Casey started from the ground.

“You,” the fairy flittered right up to Donnie's face, “I can tell you've come across fairies here before. You have, haven't you?”

“Wha… well no I've never seen one but…” his voice trailed off, “We shouldn't stay here. The Foot have people everywhere listening and watching,” Donatello purposefully avoided the question posed to him and turned to Casey, “Can we talk at your place? It's a lot closer and we should probably get April's input as well..”

“Sure Don,” he replied, “Lets just save the fairy talk for later,” his voice seemed a little shaken but the turtle understood he was joking… mostly.

“Great, let's get going,” then asking the fairy, “what should we call you?”

“My name is Jordan, and who are you guys?”

Donnie smiled, “I'm Donatello,” he pointed to Raph and Mikey, “those two are my brothers Raphael and Michelangelo, and hockey mask over there is Casey Jones,” he said gesturing to Casey standing behind them.

“Cool,” Jordan laughed, “I like renaissance art!”


End file.
